Last year, I praised Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay for “refusing to accept anything less than a happy ending” during the pandemic, an era when true happiness was hard to come by. Starring Please Like Me creator Josh Thomas as an Australian entomologist who moves to California to take care of his sisters after their father dies, the comedy was funny, of course, but it was also frequently uplifting and heartfelt. This month, Freeform is finally premiering season two — and though I’m definitely in a better place than I was when watching season one (It’s sunny outside! I’m vaccinated!), I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still ecstatic about returning to Thomas’ comforting world of unconditional love and easygoing kindness.
Of course, there are other reasons to be excited about April’s LGBTQ+ streaming slate. Prestige film fans can revisit Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-winning Milk or Paul Thomas Anderson’s Golden Globe-winning Boogie Nights, while those looking for more lighthearted fare can snuggle up with Legally Blonde or In & Out. If you need a new reality show to sink into, Netflix has the marriage-themed The Wedding Coach and the heartfelt clothes-as-sentimental-items Worn Stories. Meanwhile, Hulu is gearing up for the final season premiere of TV Land’s long-running sitcom Younger. And if you really want to laugh, I simply must recommend The Other Two, Comedy Central’s hilarious sitcom about the two older siblings of a Justin Bieber-type teen pop star. With season two coming very soon, it’s imperative that everyone get on board now.
The late Philip Seymour Hoffman was no stranger to portraying memorable characters, but in my opinion, few stand a candle to Scotty J., the gay production assistant in Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakout hit Boogie Nights. In Anderson’s epic ode to the 1970s and 1980s Los Angeles porn industry, Hoffman’s Scotty is only a small piece of a much larger puzzle, but in a world of impossibly muscled-up studs and busty bombshells, the deliberately schleppy Scotty stands out as the film’s beating heart. Given the time period, Boogie Nights expectedly touches upon homophobia and hate crimes, but I’ve always admired Anderson’s refusal to subject his film’s central queer character to these fates. In one of the film’s most subversive moments, Scotty makes a move on straight porn sensation Dirk Diggler, but rather than respond with violence, Dirk simply shakes off the encounter and moves on. Shoutout to tolerance!
All the way back in 1997, In & Out dared to lampoon our collective tendency to bestow undue praise onto straight actors for “bravely” playing gay characters while also placing a clever spin on the coming-out story years before that concept would become trite. Much like beloved classic But I’m a Cheerleader, In & Out doesn’t focus on a person painfully wrestling with their same-sex desire; instead, an ostensibly straight English teacher is “outed” on national TV when his former student wins an Oscar and thanks his “gay teacher” for introducing him to acting. The revelation causes a huge stir in the teacher’s small Indiana town, forcing him, his wife-to-be, and his fellow townsfolk to reckon with the crazy idea that, gasp, maybe gay people do exist. A quick-moving romp that tackles the toxicity of homophobia with refreshing levity, In & Out is a great reminder that stories about repressed queer trauma can still be utterly hilarious.
Legally Blonde is chock-full of instantly iconic lines, but I’ve always adored the scathing specificity of, “Don’t stomp your little last season Prada shoes at me, honey!” Delivered by Enrique Salvatore in the final act of this 2001 classic, the line is objectively hilarious, but it’s easy to forget that it’s also a crucial plot point. As Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) — the pink-obsessed, convertible-driving rich girl whoi only applied to Harvard Law School to be closer to the guy who dumped her right before graduation — struggles to figure out how her team can win their court case, this line helps her realize that sexy poolboy Enrique has been lying about sleeping with the daughter of the man whose murder put this trial into motion. After all, anyone who can spot Prada is obviously gay. One little line of dialogue… so much influence.
Turning in a terrific Oscar-winning performance, Sean Penn shines as American politician Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s shimmering biopic Milk. Making history as California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk’s political career always felt primed for cinematic treatment — and aided by Dustin Lance Black’s Oscar-winning screenplay, Milk beautifully tells the inspiring story of Milk’s rise (and untimely fall) while effectively capturing the vibrant queer energy of 1970s San Francisco. While many biopics about LGBTQ+ leaders tend to sanitize elements of their identity, Van Sant places Milk’s queerness front and center, spotlighting the myriad ways his unapologetic homosexuality informed both his political ambitions and the widespread support he worked to earn from his community.
Worn Stories, a new docuseries based on Emily Spivack’s book of the same name, understands that clothes are for much more than wearing. Across eight episodes, a variety of people are given the opportunity to share their stories about the clothing they hold closest to their hearts. The stories range from hopeful (like a nonbinary Jewish kid who talks about the gender-neutral outfit they found for their “b’nai mitzvah” celebration) to harrowing (like a gay man who left his hometown of Alaska after being called a “faggot,” ended up doing survival sex work, and now holds onto the first Nasty Pig jockstrap he bought for himself at a client’s request). Every single one is raw, personal, and heartfelt.
When I got my COVID-19 vaccine, I said, “Thank you, Dolly Parton” out loud right as the nurse stuck the needle into my arm. As the vaccine rollout steadily gains steam, it feels like the perfect time to show gratitude to Dolly, who notably donated $1 million to vaccine efforts at the height of the pandemic. And what better way to do that than through music? Though it was filmed in 2019, when Parton was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year, Netflix’s new documentary A MusiCares Tribute is perfectly poised to give viewers an ample dose of Parton cheer. Featuring performances by gay icons like Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves and queer musicians like Miley Cyrus, this all-star special is guaranteed to be a fun, foot-tapping time.
After The Big Day and Marriage or Mortgage, Netflix is adding yet another original wedding-themed reality show to its library: The Wedding Coach. As explained in the trailer, “The wedding industry wants you to believe that everything should be perfect, but wedding perfection is unattainable.” Luckily, comedian (and former bride) Jamie Lee is there to help couples “get to the finish line” of their special days — which, here, include some rather, well, extravagant ceremonies (a gay couple literally plans a Coachella-themed “festival wedding” for more than 1000 people). Lee’s effervescence is enough to carry the show through, but The Wedding Coach really comes alive thanks to her special guest coaches, including hilarious queer comedians like Matteo Lane, Fortune Feimster, and Punkie Johnson.
Over a year after warming our hearts with its fantastic first season, Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay is finally returning for its second outing. The new trailer reintroduces EGBO’s central quartet — Nicholas (show creator Josh Thomas), his college-aged autistic sister Matilda (Kayla Cromer), his high school-aged sister Genevieve (Maeve Press), and his doting boyfriend Alex (Adam Faison) — while hinting that the upcoming season will touch upon everything from grief (and a lack thereof) to sexual un-revelations (“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that I’m not queer”). I, for one, can’t think of anything more delightfully subversive than hearing Matilda dispiritedly asking her sister, “Why did I have to be born straight?” Ugh, I feel you, girl.
It’s been more than two years since Comedy Central aired the first season of its uproarious entertainment industry satire The Other Two, but in the meantime, my fondness for the endearing comedy has only grown stronger. From Instagay culture to Andy Cohen, there was no corner of millennial gay life that The Other Two was unwilling to skewer — and for that, I will always love it. Last summer, it was announced that the critical hit would officially be moving from Comedy Central to HBO Max. And with the debut season of the series finally arriving on the streaming service, I have every reason to believe that the long-awaited second season is coming soon — making now the perfect time to catch up (or revisit — that’s what I’ll be doing).
“Growing up in Baltimore is crazy,” narrates a young man at the beginning of the trailer for Dark City Beneath the Beat. “People die young here. People get misguided very fast, too.” A documentary wrapped up in a splashy musical with huge choreographed dance numbers, Dark City uses the ebullient sound of Baltimore’s signature club music to reinvent the narrative of its city. Directed by queer artist TT The Artist, the “ecstatically hopeful love letter to Bmore” was a certified smash when it premiered at SXSW last year, earning ample praise for its infectious and vibrant depiction of a struggling city. “We dance in the streets because we don’t have anywhere else to go now,” says one featured subject. Well, at least now, they’ll always have this film.
After six seasons following 40-year-old Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) wriggle around the publishing industry, pretending to be almost a decade-and-a-half younger than she actually is, the beloved TV Land dramedy Younger is approaching its seventh and final season. Created by gay TV royalty Darren Star, the show has done a great job tackling topics like ageism, sexism, and grief. But when it’s all said and done, Younger will also be forever remembered for the positive LGBTQ+ representation it provided through its quirky characters (lesbian artist Maggie; “pansexual unicorn” Lauren) and forward-thinking casting (Nico Tortorella). I’m sad to see it go.
Have you ever seen someone so attractive that you have an uncontrollable physical response? (And no, not in that way.) Because Thelma, the titular character in the 2017 Norwegian film Thelma, definitely has. Directed by Joachim Trier, the supernatural thriller turns coming out into bone-chilling horror. After leaving her über-religious home for college, Thelma begins to notice that her body has a tendency to tense up and convulse whenever she’s stressed — especially when she locks eyes with Anja, the cute classmate she befriends on campus. Taking cues from similarly-minded telekinetic tales like Carrie, Thelma effectively utilizes horror tropes to say something profound about the trauma of repressing one’s queer desire and the healing freedom that can come after you finally stop and learn to love and embrace the person you are.
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